Propagation of vectorial Gaussian beams behind a circular aperture

Based on the vectorial Rayleigh diffraction integral and the hard-edge aperture function expanded as the sum of finite-term complex Gaussian functions, an approximate analytical expression for the propagation equation of vectorial Gaussian beams diffracted at a circular aperture is derived and some special cases are discussed. By using the approximate analytical formula and diffraction integral formula, some numerical simulation comparisons are done, and some special cases are discussed. We find that a circular aperture can produce the focusing effect but the beam becomes the shape of ellipse in the Fresnel region. When the Fresnel number is equal to unity, the beam is circular and the focused spot reaches a minimum.     

Nonparaxial diffraction of vectorial plane waves at a small aperture

By using the vectorial Rayleigh diffraction integrals, a nonparaxial propagation equation of vectorial plane waves diffracted at a small rectangular aperture is derived analytically and some special cases are discussed. Numerical calculation results are given to illustrate the applicability and validity of our theoretical formulae. It is shown that for the apertured case the ratio of the aperture width and wavelength affects the beam nonparaxiality. The nonparaxial approach presented in this paper has to be used for diffracted plane waves if the aperture width is comparable with or less than the wavelength.     

A comparison of the vectorial nonparaxial approach with Fresnel and Fraunhofer approximations

Based on the vectorial Rayleigh diffraction integrals, a nonparaxial propagation equation of vectorial plane waves diffracted at a circular aperture is derived. The nonparaxial far-field expression, Fresnel and Fraunhofer diffraction formulae are given and treated as special cases of our general expression. The theoretical formulation permits us to study and compare the transversal and axial intensity distributions of diffracted plane waves both analytically and numerically. Illustrative numerical examples are given. It is shown that the vectorial nonparaxial approach has to be used if the aperture size is comparable with or less than the wavelength, and the knowledge of both transversal and axial intensity distributions is required to provide a comprehensive comparison of the paraxial and nonparaxial results.     

非傍轴衍射光束横截面上的光强及其能量传输

运用角谱表示的矢量衍射理论,以平面波微小圆孔的非傍轴衍射为例,给出了垂直于光束传输方向的横截面上不同定义的三种光强（传统光强I、功率密度Jz、时间平均能流密度矢量的z分量〈Sz〉）的计算公式,并进行了详细的数值计算和比较研究.指出对微小孔衍射的能量传输,必须考虑光场的矢量特性.应用能流密度矢量S和功率流密度矢量J,分别计算了微小孔非傍轴衍射的透射系数,得到了一些新的结论.     

The vectorial angular-spectrum representation and Rayleigh–Sommerfeld diffraction formulae

The equivalence of the vectorial angular-spectrum representation and Rayleigh–Sommerfeld (RS) diffraction formulae is studied. Based on the angular-spectrum representation and the Weyl representation of a spherical wave, the vectorial RS diffraction formulae of the first and second kinds are derived in a simple way. Numercial results of diffracted divergent spherical waves are given to illustrate the application of the two vectorial RS diffraction formulae.     

建立聚焦光学系统三维衍射积分的新方法

本文介绍了一种建立聚焦光学系统三维衍射积分的新方法,该方法简单直观.利用所建立的三维衍射积分能方便地有效地研究光学系统,特别是大孔径光学系统聚焦衍射场的三维场分布.文中给出了光学系统聚焦面上光矢的各分量及总光矢的分布,并研究分析了像差对光矢三线分布的影响以及像差对称性与光矢分布的关系,得出了一些结论.     

Tight parabolic dark spot with high numerical aperture focusing with a circular π phase plate

The properties of tight dark focal spot created using a simple circular π phase plate are presented. For focusing elements with low numerical aperture, the focal plane intensity has r⁴ dependence, while for focusing elements with high numerical aperture, vectorial diffraction effects become important, and the focal plane intensity surprisingly approaches r² dependence, indicating a much tighter dark spot.     

Propagation of vectorial apertured cosh-Gaussian beams beyond the paraxial approximation

By using the vectorial Rayleigh-Sommerfeld diffraction integrals, the propagation equation of vectorial nonparaxial cosh-Gaussian (ChG) beams in the presence of an aperture is derived and expressed in a closed form. The on-axis, far-field and paraxial cases are studied as special cases. Analytical results are illustrated with numerical examples.     

A comparative study of the propagation of vectorial nonparaxial beams in the use of different approaches

Starting from the vectorial Rayleigh diffraction integral formula and using a simple expansion of the nucleus in the Rayleigh formula, an analytical propagation equation of vectorial nonparaxial Gaussian beams in free space is derived, which permits us to perform numerical calculations in comparison with the expression derived by Ciattoni et al. and with the direct numerical integration of the Rayleigh formula. It is found that as usual the use of expansion of vectorial Rayleigh diffraction integral is sufficient to provide satisfactory numerical results as compared with the direct integration of the Rayleigh formula. The above two analytical expressions are valid under certain conditions, however both are applicable in the far field.     

Propagation of nonparaxial vector hollow Gaussian beams through a circular aperture

Based on the vectorial Rayleith-Sommerfeld formulae, the nonparaxial propagation properties of the vector hollow Gaussian beams (HGBs) through a circular aperture are studied in detail. We describe the derivation of the integral expressions of the propagation of nonparaxial vector HGBs through a circular aperture. The derived expression is independent the approximation of paraxial and far field, which are valid for either far and near field and for the systems in which aperture radius is comparable to or even smaller than wavelength. And it is also strict integral formula for the light field on the axis. Numerical calculation results indicate that there is no difference between derived formulae and the Collins formulae in the situation of paraxial approximation. Using the formula deduced, we calculate the propagation properties of HGBs. The calculated results indicate that the propagation field of vector hollow Gaussian beams is asymmetric in near field, while the propagation field is symmetric in far field. These research results could well shed light on the further understanding of the vectorial property of HGBs through a circular aperture, and would play a guiding role in the practical application of HGBs.     

Vectorial structure of a hard-edged-diffracted four-petal Gaussian beam in the far field

Based on the vector angular spectrum method and the stationary phase method and the fact that a circular aperture function can be expanded into a finite sum of complex Gaussian functions, the analytical vectorial structure of a four-petal Gaussian beam (FPGB) diffracted by a circular aperture is derived in the far field. The energy flux distributions and the diffraction effect introduced by the aperture are studied and illustrated graphically. Moreover, the influence of the f-parameter and the truncation parameter on the non-paraxiality is demonstrated in detail. In addition, the approximate formulas obtained in this paper can degenerate into un-apertured case when the truncation parameter tends to infinity. This work is beneficial to strengthen the understanding of vectorial properties of the FPGB diffracted by a circular aperture.     

Calculation of the vectorial field distribution of an axicon illuminated by a linearly polarized Guassian beam

An analytical expression describing the vectorial field distribution of Gaussian light beams diffracted by an axicon is obtained. The theoretical analysis and simulation calculation show that for the linearly x-polarized light incident on an axicon, the y-component of the diffraction field is very small and the x-component dominates. The intensity of the z-component along the propagation direction is related with the open angle and index of axicon. The open angle plays the more important role in determining the polarization than does the index. For a small open angle, the z-polarized effect can be neglected and the scalar method is simple and valid to evaluating the diffraction field distribution of axicon. However, the vectorial method has to be used for great open angle.     

Near-field properties of diffraction through a circular subwavelength-size aperture

Analytical nonparaxial vectorial electric field expressions for both Gaussian beams and plane waves diffracted through a circular aperture are derived by using the vector plane angular spectrum method for the first time,which is suitable for the subwavelength aperture and the near-field region.The transverse properties of intensity distributions and their evolutions with the propagating distance,and the power transmission functions for diffracted fields containing the whole field,the evanescent field and the propagating field are investigated in detail,which is helpful for understanding the relationship between evanescent and propagating components in the near-field region and can be applied to apertured near-field scanning optical microscopy.     

Propagation of vectorial nonparaxial Gaussian beams through an annular aperture

Starting from the vectorial Rayleigh diffraction integrals, the nonparaxial propagation of vectorial Gaussian beams through an annular aperture is studied. The analytical propagation expressions are derived, which permit us to treat the on-axis field and far field of vectorial nonparaxial Gaussian beams diffracted at the annular aperture, the nonparaxial diffraction at a circular aperture and a circular disc as our special cases in a unified way. The validity of our treatment is confirmed by direct numerical integration of the Rayleigh formulae. It is shown that the f-parameter and annular obscuration affect the beam nonparaxiality in the case of diffraction at the annular aperture.     

Focusing of linearly-, and circularly polarized Gaussian background vortex beams by a high numerical aperture system afflicted with third-order astigmatism

Effects of third-order astigmatism on the focused structure of linearly and circularly polarized Laguerre-Gaussian beams have been investigated by using vectorial Debye-Wolf integral. The results have been presented for total intensity distribution and squares of the polarization components at the focal plane of a high numerical aperture system, for two values of the topological charge. Astigmatism results in the stretching of the intensity pattern as well as of the squares of the polarization components. A split is observed in the intensity pattern of a focused beam having double topological charge, and also in the pattern of the longitudinal polarization component of circularly polarized beam even with unit topological charge.     

微小孔近场衍射中的传播波和倏逝波

用角谱法分析了微小孔近场衍射中的传播波和倏逝波,并对平面波圆孔衍射进行了数值计算,得到了一些新的结论.     

三环非均匀混合偏振同轴矢量光束的聚焦特性

基于Richards-Wolf矢量衍射积分公式,数值分析了同轴三环非均匀混合偏振矢量光束经过高数值孔径透镜的聚焦特性。该矢量光束由同轴三环局域线偏振矢量光束通过一个相位延迟角为δ的液晶相位延迟器产生,光束偏振变为包含线偏振、圆偏振和椭圆偏振的混合态。同轴三环局域线偏振矢量光束的偏振分布是由径向向内偏振的外环光束、径向向外偏振的内环光束和线偏振方向与径向方向夹角为φ2的中环光束构成。数值模拟结果显示该混合偏振矢量光束的聚焦强度分布与参数φ2和相位延迟角δ密切相关,当选取适当的φ2和δ时,在焦平面附近产生沿光轴方向的三维多点光俘获结构——暗光链,这在光学微操纵领域具有潜在的应用价值。     

Tight focusing of J0-correlated Gaussian Schell-model beam through high numerical aperture

Based on the vectorial Debye diffraction theory, the tight focusing of a linearly polarized J₀-correlated Gaussian Schell-model (JGSM) beam through high numerical aperture (NA) is investigated. The components of intensity distributions as well as the 3D degree of polarization of light at the focal plane are depicted by numerical integrations, respectively. It is shown that intensity distributions as well as the degree of polarization of focused field not only strongly depend on the global correlation length of the JGSM beam but also relate to the focusing parameter of NA. It is also indicated that the weight of the longitudinal intensity component would enhance in the focal plane, as long as either the correlation length of the JGSM beam or the focusing parameter of NA increases.     

Intensity distributions near focus of strongly converging spherical waves diffracted at a circular aperture

Based on the Rayleigh–Sommerfeld diffraction integral, the diffraction of converging spherical waves at a circular aperture is studied in a general case. The expression for the intensity near focus of strongly converging spherical diffracted waves is derived, which reduces to the well known result expressed in terms of Lommel functions for the case of weakly converging spherical diffracted waves. The intensity distributions at the geometrical focal plane and along the axis are given. Numerical comparative examples are presented to illustrate the more general applicability of our results.